The Latsos Piano Duo

The Latsos is an internationally known classical piano duo formed by Giorgi Latso and Anna Fedorova-Latso. Although they initially pursued solo careers, they teamed up as duo-pianists in 2013 and conducted annual international tours, four-hands piano recitals and concertos for two pianos and orchestra in Europe, Russia, Americas and Asia. Duo formed in the city of Vienna in 2013 is best known for their interpretations of Franz Schubert piano pieces for Four- hands, according to a press release from The Guardian, British daily newspaper. [1][2]

The Latsos performing for International Classical Concerts at Rancho Mirage in California, 2017
The Latsos Piano Duo
Anna and Giorgi Latso in Vienna, 2019
Background information
Birth nameAnna Fedorova, Giorgi Latsabidze
BornNizhny Novgorod, Tbilisi
GenresClassical
Occupation(s)
  • Classical pianists
  • Musicians
  • Adjudicators
  • Educators
InstrumentsPiano
Years active2013-
Labels
Websitethelatsos.com

The Latso Duo has resided in Austria, from 2013-2019, where Giorgi had joined the piano faculty of the Vienna Prayner Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Arts as professor of piano [3] and at the same time he was a guest professor at the Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona. [4][5] Subsequently, since 2020 they have made their homes in Los Angeles.

The Latsos giving a charity concert, in Ehrbarsaal Vienna, 2019

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Repertoire

The Latsos's repertoire ranges from Bach to 21st-century classical music, including all major works for piano four hands and orchestral transcriptions, with a focus on French, Russian and German composers. The duo performs at concert halls across Europe, America and Asia including Music Center Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art,[6] Beverly Hills Greystone,[7] Yamaha Center in Bangkok, Imperial Marmorsaal Concert Hall Vienna, Ehrbarsaal in Vienna, Linzer Stadthalle, Belgais Center for Arts in Portugal, Turgenev Art Gallery in Moscow, etc.

The Latsos have rediscovered, performed and recorded a number of unusual and forgotten works from the duo-piano repertoire, including all the Schubert duets and duos. The pianists have developed a close relationship with composer Joe Giarrusso, who created and dedicated some four-hand pieces especially for them.[8][9] Since 2013 they have been performing worldwide as piano duo and have appeared at musical centers and festivals, including Chopin Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Steinway Festival, Yamaha Fesitval, Schubertiade Music Festival, the Osterfestival Tirol and the Ruhr Piano Festival.[10]

They have also arranged for 2 pianos and four-hands transcriptions from a selected american movie scores by the celebtrated composers such as John Williams, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, John Sousa, etc. and has been hailed "one of the finest transcribers of our time" in the european press. [11]

Extensive CD recording makes up an important part of their career: the Duo has released recordings of four-hand piano music not only with central works of the repertoire but also introducing less familiar names to a wide public.[12][13]

The Latsos have performed and recorded a number of unusual and largely unknown treasures from the duo-piano repertoire, including all the Schubert duets and duos. “...The Latsos shine in enchantingly intimate dialogue and impress with their expression of emotional unrest” as Kreiszeitung describes them. The Latsos are often guests on radios such as KUSC Radio,[14][15] Classic FM, Sunday Live, NDR Kultur and many more. They have released three albums of piano music.[16][17]

The Latsos’s fans are seen waiting in ticket line at Los Angeles County Museum of Art venue, 03.17.2019

“...The Latsos’ execution of these transitions [in Schubert’s Fantasia] was exemplary, so that their performance gained strength and impetus as it proceeded, culminating in a powerful account of maybe the darkest final cadence Schubert ever wrote, a procession of grinding minor chords that descend like a glacier sliding into a freezing ocean.” LA Opus wrote.[18]

One of their recent concert presentation held at the historic Doheny Estate & Gardens as part of the Music in the Mansion Series was filmed by Beverly Hills Warner Cable Television and live-streamed on BHTV10 Channel.[19]

The duo also supports the mission of charities by organizing and performing benefit concerts each year. They often offer concerts performances for non-profit organizations and institutions that serve underprivileged communities, children with special needs, hospital patients, and the elderly. In May 2019 in collaboration with National Solidarity Fund and The Embassy of Georgia to the Republic of Austria, The Latsos Duo performed gala charity concert in support of children and young people under the age of 22 suffering from oncological disease in Georgia.[20]

Master classes and lectures

Giorgi and Anna Latso combine performance and teaching. As music educators, they have presented master classes and lectures at a number of universities in Europe, Russia, Asia, as well as across the United States and regularly invited to perform at prestigious music halls and scholarly conferences worldwide as well as served as judges at various international, national and regional piano competitions.

Awards
  • 2017 - Winners of Beverly Hills National (USA) Auditions [21][22][23]

Reviews

An intimate knowledge of the two-piano repertoire, in combination with sound command of technique and a finely developed sense of ensemble, have allowed The Latsos to focus on the nuance and detail that has won so much praise from critics: “thrilling and flamboyant, tender and passionate, vibrant and dynamic”. Internationale Chopin-Gesellschaft Vienna, Austria.[24] Oberösterreichische Nachrichten hailed them for being “as expressive as they are technically perfect”. The Latsos are often[25] Oberösterreichische Nachrichtenpraised for their unity of thought and execution, a music critic of their 2019 recital in Vienna wrote: "...while hearing them one thinks, not of two pianist at two pianos, but of twenty fingers at a double keyboard controlled by a single mind".[26]

References
  1. Claire Armitstead, Duo pianists provide a rare treat in Cincinnati debut (2019), p. 12, The Guardian, Cincinnati. Retrieved December 31 2020
  2. Lammer, Bernhard:, analyzes and discussions from the abstract "Die Wiederkehr des Künstlers", (1 June 2013), vol. 2, no. 6, pp.59-68. Vienna, Austria. Retrieved December 31, 2020
  3. "Dozentinnen und Dozenten" [Teaching staff]. www.konservatorium-prayner.at (in German). Prayner Konservatorium Vienna. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  4. "Masterclass amb Giorgi Latso (piano)" (in Catalan). Conservatori Liceu. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  5. "Barcelona Classica". Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  6. "LACMA". Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  7. "LACMA". Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  8. "Waring International Piano Competition". Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  9. "Performing Arts". Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  10. "Turgenev Library Moscow". Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  11. Landau, Daniel, Piano Duo Latsos in Ehrbarsaal (2019), p. 33, Landaus Schnell Kritik, Vienna. Retrieved December, 31 2020
  12. "Amazon". Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  13. "CDbaby". Retrieved 2017-09-06.
  14. "KUSC- Sundayslive". Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  15. "Sundayslive". Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  16. ""The Latsos" Perfrom Mozart and Schubert". Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  17. "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in C major, K.521". Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  18. "LAopus". Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  19. "Beverly Hills Channel Television" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  20. "National Solidarity Fund Georgia". Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  21. "Beverly Hills" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  22. "Classical Crossroads" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  23. "encinitasca.gov/concerts" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  24. A. Wagner (2014-02-27). "Chopin-Gesselschaft Wien". Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  25. Los Angeles Baroque Players (2018-03-27). ""Musical Encounters – YMF Hear & Now"". Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  26. Michael Wrus (2019-06-27). "Musik von heimischen Künstlern". Retrieved 2020-12-28.
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